Piped water supply to arsenic, fluoride-hit villages by next year

PATNA: All the 30 lakh households in the identified 2,347 panchayats affected by arsenic, fluoride and iron content would be provided treated piped water by the next year end at a nominal monthly charge, said chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh after CM Nitish Kumar reviewed the works of public health and engineering department (PHED) on Saturday. He said piped water in other villages would also be charged from the users.

However, Singh clarified that the users would be charged for piped water only after five years of the installation and functioning of the supply unit.

“The agency concerned would bear the maintenance cost for the first five years and thereafter the users would be charged to pay monthly honorarium to the unit operator and to attend to the emergency needs like repair,” Singh said.

He said the households below poverty line (BPL) would have to pay Rs30 per month while other families would be charged Rs60 per month. He said 2.90 lakh households affected by arsenic, fluoride and iron contamination have already been provided piped drinking water.

Singh said the government would repair and reconstruct those wells which have dried up.